14 JUNE 2009
I had planned on having my first couch surfing experience staying at someone else’s place here in Istanbul, but I didn’t manage to find a host, so I ended up at the Ritz-Carlton instead. Not a bad trade, in theory, but I would have preferred to meet some more locals and have someone with whom to explore the city. That said, I’ve been very well taken care of at the Ritz, and Istanbul is a beautiful city. Straddling two continents, split by the turquoise waters of the Bosphorus, minarets shooting up towards the blue sky from every neighborhood in the city, Istanbul is enchanting in many ways, but I’m not in love. With 16 million people, Istanbul is a huge, busy city, and somewhat overwhelming.
On the way to the hotel from the airport, my taxi driver lectured me on Istanbul traffic and then nearly got into a fist fight with a particularly rude motorcyclist. Instead of wasting my time with a fight, he wrote the number of the license plate on his hand and simply said, “I kill him later.”
Saturday, I decided to hire a guide and explore the old town. Together, we explored the streets of Sultanahmet, visiting Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern, Topkapi palace and the spice market. In between, we stopped at one of the more reputable rug wholesalers in town, and in a moment of weakness, I ended up purchasing three beautiful carpets from the Ararat region of Turkey. My guide had stepped out for a cigarette while I made my carpet selections, but when she returned, she said that I had picked out her favorite one. “When he pulled out that carpet at first, I immediately fell in love - you have great taste for beautiful things.”
Wandering around the spice market, I was impressed by the honesty of one vendor vying for my business. “Come in, we cheat less here, just enough.” The great success of the day was when we hailed a taxi to go back to the hotel and ended up with the same driver that had taken us into town. Over 30,000 taxis in the city, and we managed to find the same one twice. My guide was very happy because she said she almost always has to argue with drivers from the old town. The spice guy may cheat less, but taxi drivers here have a tendency to cheat more. That’s why it’s always better to get a driver at one of the major hotels because the hotels only allow the more honest drivers to work their properties.
It was my intent to have a relaxing day today, perhaps spending it by the pool at the hotel, but the Concierge, Cenk, had other plans for me. Cenk sought me out at breakfast to make sure I had a good tour yesterday. He pulled out a map and asked what all I saw on the tour so that he could plan out the day for me. His list included three suggestions, Dolmabahce Palace, a Bosphorus cruise, and a visit to the Ortakoy neighborhood. I decided to take his advice and do all three. I took a taxi over to Ortakoy, where I wandered around a bit and then boarded a boat to see the city from the water. After an hour long cruise, I decided to walk back to Dolmabahce and my hotel from Ortakoy because it looked deceivingly nearby from the water. Though longer than expected, the walk was very pleasant, but it ended with a disgustingly steep uphill trek from the river to my hotel.
Upon my return, Cenk announced that he had made dinner reservations for me at a place voted one of the 50 best restaurants in the world, Kosebasi. I was very excited to try the restaurant, but I have to admit that I was not impressed. The best part of the meal was the bread - a variety of fresh baked Turkish flat breads that were fantastic. Otherwise, all of the food was good, but nothing memorable. I went heavy on the eggplant tonight with yogurt-eggplant dip, pickled eggplant dip, and Patlincanli Kebap (minced lamb kebabs with grilled eggplant) all accompanied with a tomato salad, a Turkish cheese pastry and a small Lahmacun (meat pizza). The food was nothing special, and the service was mediocre as well. The place seemed to do a lot of delivery business with the breads, pizzas and kebabs, and I would probably be very satisfied with the restaurant as a delivery place, but I strongly disagree with the rave reviews the restaurant received in general. I took a short stroll after dinner, and then returned to the hotel for a tea and a scoop of pistachio ice cream.
Tomorrow, I leave for the Cappadocia region, where I hope to get a more authentic view of Turkey.
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